


Falling Under

by orphan_account



Category: Gravity Falls, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Choose Your Own Adventure, Gen, Idk man it can get really dark the way you go, Votes are on fanfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 08:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6649300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account





	1. 1

The night was clear and cold, every star in the sky pronounced brightly in the silky darkness. It was freezing outside, and a fresh coating of snow lay spread across the ground. It's depth varied in the forest, especially depending on how thick the foliage was, and how much snow was caught in the branches of trees. Deep drifts formed in some places, while in others, there was barely a dusting. In one round clearing, there was barely coating of frost on the ground. Evergreen trees almost completely ensconced the little clearing.

Dipper Pines frowned as he tapped his lip with his pen. Like all of the other places in the woods surrounding Gravity Falls, this was also a mystery. he was pretty sure he had not been here yet. He had no idea why, as there was, in fact, a large, noticeable sinkhole in the ground.

"Giant Footprint caused by a Creature of Unspeakable Power?" He suggested to himself as he scribbled down said words as a title in the '3' journal. He quickly crossed it out. "Nah, too cliché. Lets see... Mabel, would you stop making all that noise?"

Mabel's head popped out of a bush, leaves and snow falling around her. "What noise?" She said in a lower, siller octave than her normal one before firing her grappling hook in a random location in the trees. "Woosh!"

Dipper rolled his eyes at his sister's behavior. He loved Mabel and all, but sometimes she could just be a bit...Mabel.

"Hey Dipper. I thought we were putting up Christmassy-themed signs so we could attract more people to the Mystery Shack." Mabel's muffled voice was heard from the trees. The twins were staying with their Grunkle Stan for the winter break. They were pretty surprised how different the sleepy town looked. Most people left the town for vacation, Wendy Corduroy being one of them, which Dipper wasn't so happy about. All the buildings were covered in snow, and people kept on tripping over snowmen. Their Grunkle was literally mauled by getting caught in the middle of a snowball fight.

"Yeah, we can do it after this, Mabel. Great Uncle Ford said something about a strange power wave being emitted from this hole not to long ago. he wants me to examine it for something supernatural." Dipper explained, getting off the log he was sitting on and walked closer to the oddly shaped hole. "Although, I'm not actually sure what this hole is."

Mabel zoomed out of the trees and landed next to her twin. "It's weirdly round- what if it was caused by one of those cool drilling machines?" She suggested as she air-drove said cool drilling machine.

"Mabel, those don't exist." Dipper said flatly.

"Oh, come on, Dipper! Just keep your mind open for the possibilities!"

Dipper gnawed on his pen a bit. "Okay," He crossed his arms. "Even if a 'cool drilling machine' would've existed and possibly dug this hole, wouldn't've we heard the drilling noises in town?"

"It probably happened before we came to Gravity Falls."

"Mabel, that was about eight months ago. How would the drill get to this area without leaving a path of broken trees? Think about it. It doesn't take eight months for trees to grow back fully." Dipper smirked.

Mabel chuckled. "Why are you so good at this?"

Dipper shrugged. "You got all the cool genes. I need something from our parents."

They shared a guffaw.

"So the drill idea is a no, then?" Mabel asked. There were a bunch of roots from the trees surrounding the hole and Dipper wondered how the trees were staying alive when the roots were above ground. This and other blossoming thoughts were interrupted when Mabel suggested,

"What if it's a bottomless pit?"

Dipper paused tapping his chin with his pen and looked back at his sister. "Possibly, Mabes...I mean, I've seen a few around Gravity Falls..." Mabel tuned out Dipper's incoherent thinking and peered down the hole. She picked up a stone laying next to her feet and dropped it down the hole.

"...Maybe every pit in Gravity Falls is connected! Mabel, this could be a very good possibility! We have to go back to Great Uncle Ford to te-"

'plop'

The stone that Mabel dropped did not, in fact, pop up, instead landed on the very real surface at the bottom of the hole. The twins shared knowing glances.

"Not bottomless?"

"Definitely." Dipper circled the hole, rapidly clicking his pen. "Well...Ford did say we should check it out throughout, so..."

"Let's go in the rabbit hole!" Mabel said cheerily, referencing Alice in Wonderland.

"Let's be more careful about this!" Dipper said, his voice overlapping his sister's. "We don't know what is in that hole, Mabel! Could probably be a pink fluffy lion for all we know."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Maybe to you!" Dipper lowered his voice. "Anyway, if we're not careful, we may get hurt."

"Well...you're not wrong." Mabel said, rocking in her feet. "So...


	2. 2

Falling Under by Planesexual  
Gravity Falls & Undertale Xover Rated: T, English, Adventure, Dipper P., Mabel P., Words: 20k+, Favs: 171, Follows: 206, Published: Dec 6, 2015 Updated: Apr 12  
584 Chapter 2  
Guys. Come on. I'm blushing. Thank you for the interest and taking your time to read my story! UvU

Option 1: Away from the hole (1 vote)

Option 2: Into the hole ((360 noscope!) 16 votes)

Option 3: Let's be careful (4 votes)

Well whaddya know! Into the hole it is!

-oooo-

"Well...you're not wrong." Mabel said, rocking in her feet. "So..."

Mabel shrugged and walked away from the hole. "Meh."

"Meh?" Dipper whined at her sister's back. "That's it? That's your argument?" He watched his sister disappear in the thick branches of the woods.

"Not even a real word!"

….

"….Mabel?"

The only thing heard after that was the fast footsteps of Mabel Pines as she took a running start towards the hole. Dipper, of course, already knew of her true intentions. He tried to grab her arm to stop her, however his fingers barely grazed her arm hairs and he fell flat on his face.

Dipper looked up just in time to see his twin jump a meter in the air and fall in the hole. "I took your haaaaaaaaaaat!" she yelled, the volume in her voice getting quieter as she fell deeper into the hole.

Dipper, face red from the cold snow felt his head. His hat was, in fact, gone from his head. He groaned.

He really liked that hat, too.

Dipper got up and brushed snow off of himself and walked cautiously towards the hole.

"Mabel?" He called out tentatively. "Are you dead?" No response. He threw his head back and sighed.

Dipper lowered himself into one of the roots hanging from the hole. He pressed down to see if it could hold his weight, and it held strong. He shakily grabbed another root and hung from there.

He looked down into the dark void of the hole.

Things are looking great so far.

-oooo-

The weight of the flowers broke your fall.

Mabel's eyes fluttered open, the only colour she could see was yellow. She felt around and clutched the blue and white truckers hat she grabbed from her twin's head.

She stood up shakily, hat in hand. Mabel quickly scanned her surroundings.

To the naked eye, it would seem that she was just standing in such a dark room, it looked like she was floating on a bushel of yellow flowers. But when she took one step forward she was surprised to feel solid ground. The only light came from the top of the hole, and somehow it only shone on the flowers.

She heard a thump and a loud groan from behind her.

"That did not go well," Dipper said matter of factly as he steadied himself off the ground.

"Dipper, I thought you would take the more sensible route."

"I tried." Dipper looked up to the hole. "Darn you slippery roots!"

Mabel shrugged and felt her shoulder. She pulled down her sweater and a large bruise was revealed. She winced.

"Ow. Dipper, this sucks." Mabel said at the sight of the welt. Dipper looked down at his own scratches. He slid most of the way down, the roots leaving cuts on his legs and arms.

"Yeah. Mabel, can you grapple us up? Maybe we can come here another time." He narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Carefully."

Mabel looked down at her feet. "Well, about that..."

"Mabel...?" Dipper's twin avoided his gaze.

" Oh, please don't tell me...you left your grappling hook at the top of the hole!" His eyes rolled to the back of his head and dragged a hand down his face. " That's fine, we're fine." He reassured himself as Mabel looked around for something that could help the current situation.

"But how are we gonna get back up there?" Dipper pondered to himself as he looked back up to the tiny hole of light that was the entrance of the hole.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance," a voice rang. Mabel looked up at her twin, but Dipper just shrugged.

"Over here," The voice said. Dipper looked behind him, only to see a small, yellow aster somehow being the only other thing illuminated in the room.

The small, yellow aster that was staring back at him with a friendly smile on its face.

"Ooh! Magic flower!" Mabel sung from behind her twin.

"Howdy!" the flower called out cheerily. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower."

Dipper narrowed his eyes at the polite flower. His speak was sort of similar like the pudgy, marshmallowed hair magician the twins rivaled.

The flower looked the twins up and down and hummed. "You're new around here, aren't cha?" Mabel's smile widened as she walked over to the yellow plant.

"You must be so confu...uh...hello?" The flowers seemingly rehearsed speech was paused as Dipper's twin went over to pet it.

"Mabel, no! The flower may be evil!" Dipper's voice strained.

"What, this thing?" Mabel grabbed the flower by its cheeks and turned its head to face Dipper. "Does this look like the face of evil to you?"

Flowey batted his eyelashes at him.

Dipper looked away and let out a grumble. He couldn't argue with his sister. "Yeah...I guess not."

The flower continued to talk to Mabel; she was very into the conversation, as Dipper instinctively grabbed his 3 journal from the inside pocket of his vest. He flipped through the pages to find anything about this flower.

"Flower, flower...hm, magic flour...no..." He scanned his book desperately for any info about this aster, but unfortunately, nothing.

"Dipper! Come look!" Mabel called out to her twin. The flower was smiling, and above it floated pill – like white pellets. And right in front of Mabel, a glowing heart beat.

"Down here," The flower explained. "Love is shared through little white... "friendliness pellets"."

"Are you ready?" Flowey called, and Mabel nodded enthusiastically.

"Alright! Catch as many as you can!"


	3. 3

"Alright! Catch as many as you can!"

Dipper did not trust the flower and immediately moved out of the way. Mabel, on the other hand tried her best to reach one of the rapidly spinning pills.

Before Mabel could even graze one, she felt a large weight move her away as her brother practically pile drove her away from the flower's "friendliness pellets ".

"Ow! Dipper, what the heck! I almost got one!" Mabel whined as she stood up and brushed dirt off herself.

Dipper shook his head. "I don't think this flower means well," he explained. "I just can't pinpoint why."

Flowey stared at the twins who dodged his bullets, and Dipper swore that her saw it's face contort a bit. "No no, sillies! You have to catch, not dodge! You want love, don't you?" It said, it's voice sounding more forced.

More pellets formed above it. "let's try again, ok?"

Mabel, without giving it another thought, headed for the pellets only for Dipper to push her out of the way again.

This time, Flowey was not pleased. "Is this a joke? Are you brain dead?" The aster frowned, frustrated. "RUN. INTO. THE BULLE-friendliness pellets!"

At this point, Dipper knew what's up, but his sister still had a shell of gullibility he had to break. Yet, this time Mabel didn't go for the pellets and let Dipper drag her away from the next set.

Flowey let out a small chuckle as his face spread out to a toothy grin. "You know what's up, don't'cha?" His face stretched uncomfortably, revealing many sets of sharp teeth. Nervousness and fear quickly joined by perspiration came across the twins' faces as Flowey summoned more pellets, this time in an unescapable ring.

"DIE." Flowey growled as the ring tightened, bile coming from his mouth. The pellets drew near, slowly, until they were just about to touch the two souls. They disappeared.

A small fireball then hit Flowey, launching him far away and into the darkness. The twins looked into the direction the ball of fire came from to see an anthropomorphic goat creature approach them. It wore an ankle-length purple dress, it's face regal and prominent, resembling the standards of a-

"Queen," Mabel gasped in awe at the goat. It put a paw to its smiling mouth and flushed.

"My, why aren't you the sweetest thing." The goat said, it's voice soft and welcoming. "My name is Toriel, keeper of the Ruins. I pass by to see if anyone had fallen down. You two are the first to fall down here in a while. Do you have names?"

"Hello! I'm Mabel and this is my brother Dipper!" Diaper rubbed his arm shyly as Mabel went to shake Toriel's hand.

Toriel smiled. "Come, children. I am afraid there is no way back up so I shall guide you through the Ruins." She beckoned and started walking the way she came from. Mabel started walking behind her but was stopped by a hand grabbing her sleeve.

"Mabel, wait. We don't know if Toriel is like Flowey, or worse. We should probably find a way up, instead." Dipper tried to reason, but Mabel wasn't having any of it.

"Dipper, come on, she seems nice! And she hasn't tried to kill us."

"Yet," Dipper added.

"Plus, she smells like pie. And you know how I'm a sucker for pie, so stop being a butt, will ya?" Mabel said playfully and quickly scurried after Toriel. Dipper had no choice but to follow.

They walked into an arched doorway and paused as their eyes needed to adjust to the bright purple of the room. Toriel continued on a flight of stairs, but the twins stopped to look at something yellow twinkling in the red leaves. Mabel touched it (Dipper absolutely refused to touch anything in the Ruins), and a pleasant feeling flowed through her body. It felt like snow, cold yet welcoming, landing softly on her head and shoulders.

Toriel lead them to another room, and she stood next to a practise dummy. "Welcome to your new home, innocent ones." Toriel said with a smile. Dipper frowned. New home? He thought. "As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. Perhaps, strike up a friendly conversation." Mabel giggled at this. "Practice talking to the dummy," Toriel explained.

Dipper and Mabel walked up awkwardly to the dummy, and the hearts appeared over their chests again. "Mabel, this is stupi-" Dipper tried to interfere, but Mabel didn't want to disappoint their new caretaker. "Hi Mr. Dummy, how are you?"

The dummy didn't respond, but Toriel seemed happy. The glowing hearts disappeared. "Ah, very good. You are very good." Toriel beamed, pride practically radiating from her face. Dipper huffed.

The trio continued to walk throughout the ruins, a greater puzzle in each room. One room held a hallway so long, Dipper and Mabel couldn't see the end of it. "You have done excellently so far, my children." Dipper felt uneasy how she called them 'her children'. "However, I have a difficult task to ask of you," Toriel sighed. "I would like you to walk to the end of this room by yourselves. Forgive me for this." Toriel requested. She then powerwalked away, faster than the twins had ever seen.

The twins walked silently alongside each other until they came to a pillar. It was easy to notice that Toriel was hiding behind it, but they pretended not to notice. When they passed, Toriel came out. "Greetings, my children. Fret not. I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar this whole time. Thank you for trusting me." Toriel explained.

"Anytime, Toriel!" Mabel said cheerily, warming up to the goat.

Toriel smiled at that. "There was, however, am important reason for that excersise...to test your independence. I must tend to some business, so you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here. It is dangerous to explore by yourself." She added in a gloomy tone.

Her face brightened up a bit as a thought came across her mind. "I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone. If you have a need for anything, just call. Be good, alright?" Toriel handed Mabel a bulky cell phone, and with that she sped off into another entryway.

The twins waited for a bit until Dipper started walking away.

"Wait! Dipper, Toriel said to stay here!" Mabel called for her brother. Dipper shook his head. "Mabel, I still don't trust Toriel. This whole thing could be a trap for all we know!"

"Yeah, but what if it isn't! Dipper, there's certain times when you can be suspicious. This isn't one of them!" Mabel said.

Dipper frowned. He tried to persuade Mabel into coming but she wouldn't budge.

-oooo-

"I can't believe I'm listening to you," Mabel sighed as she followed her brother through the Ruins. They continued to solve puzzles in each room, and take advice from a few frogs who called themselves 'Froggits'. Then they stumbled across something peculiar.

At first it just seemed like normal cobwebs in the corner of the empty room until Mabel heard a small voice beckon, "Would you like to buy some Spider pastries?"

Mabel gushed at the spider holding a donut. "Food made out of spiders?"

"Of course not!" the spider giggled. "Just your normal pastries sponsored by Miss Muffet. Would you like to buy?"

"Yes, please!" Mabel squeaked. Then her mood did a complete 180 as she realized she did not have any money.

"Dipper!"

Dipper, deathly afraid of spiders, sat in the corner of the room. "Yeah?"

"We don't have any moneeeeeeeeeeeyyy," she whined.

"Don't look at me!" Dipper frowned. "All I have are the coins from Dungeons, Dungeons, and more Dungeons."

"That'll do!" The spider chirruped. Dipper threw a few gold coins in Mabel's direction and quickly looked away from the spiders.

"Don't mind my brother," Mabel said to the spider as she gave it the coins. "He can be a bit of a scaredy-cat sometimes."

-oooo-

Finally, after lots of puzzles, Dipper and Mabel came to a big tree. Toriel was standing by it, mumbling something to herself. She pulled out a phone and dialed, and the one in Dipper's pocket rang. She noticed and ran to them.

"How did you get here, my children?" Toriel asked, a worried tone in her voice. "Are you hurt? Ah, perhaps I shouldn't have left you alone for so long."

Toriel waved a hand over as she walked over to a small house. "Come now, I have a very special surprise for you two."

Mabel followed; Dipper reculantly, and she saw the same twinkle as she saw in the leaves in front of Toriel house.

"Dipper, come here!" Mabel called, crouching next to the sparkle.

"Isint that the same sparkle thing that we saw earlier, Mabel I told you I'm not-"

"Dipper, what did I say earlier." Mabel interrupted, chastising him.

Dipper let out a loud sigh as he went over to touch the twinkle. The same feeling overcame him, the feel of energy falling on his shoulders and head, softly, like snow.

Mabel smiled smugly as the tense in her brother's body was let loose.

"Yeah, that felt nice." Dipper admitted. Mabel lifted him up by the arm and they walked into the small house.

Only to be hit by a wave of butterscotch scent. "Surprise!" Toriel jumped out, causing Dipper to jump. "It's butterscotch pie! I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you two to have a nice time living here."

Dipper whispered an 'oh yeah,' as he remembered Toriel calling them if they preferred cinnamon or butterscotch. Mabel, of course, yelled out 'BUTTERSCOTCH' before he could even respond.

"Here, I have another surprise for you two." Toriel guided the twins into the hallway to the right and stopped at the first door. "This is it. A room for yourselves!" Toriel beamed. She patted the twins' heads. Suddenly, her head perked up. "Uh, is something burning? Make yourselves at home!" Toriel cried as she rushed away.

The twins walked into the room. It was the same soft yellow as the rest of the house. There was a small shelf holding dusty toys, and a box of shoes and toys were equally dusty. Then they noticed the beds. They were so tired, that they fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

A while later, Dipper woke up to a fresh sweet smell. It was the pie, placed by the beds of the twins. Mabel was up already and knitting a sweater. She seemed to notice Dipper stirring from his sleep, because she threw him a finished sweater. It was navy blue with a cyan pine tree on it. "Mabel, I'm nor wearing a sweater. I don't need it." Dipper looked on the floor at the half eaten pie, and stored a peice away. Luckily, Dipper found a backpack while snooping around his new room so he kept it.

He looked up at his sister. " Hey Mabel. Lets look around a bit."

Mabel put her knitting project down. "I don't know...Toriel said not to leave."

Dipper frowned and stared at the wooden door.


	4. 4

Dipper frowned and stared at the wooden door.

Well, she hadn't tried to attack us yet...

But you can never be too sure!

Dipper looked behind him at his sister.

We should probably find escape routes other than the front door.

Dipper watched as Mabel placed another finished sweater in a pile beside her. This one was a bold blue with bright purple stripes. It was very distracting.

Mabel caught him watching her and smiled at him. "You better finish the rest of the pie before I do, Dipper!"

Dipper gave a weak smile back. " Ha...yeah. Um, Mabel, about leaving the room."

"Nuh-uh, Dipper. I don't want to stray from what Toriel told us."

"I'm just going to look around for a bit. She wouldn't know." Dipper explained. Mabel frowned and pondered this a bit. "Alrighty. I'll come too, I guess."

Dipper's mood went up a bit at Mabel's approval. He walked to the door and slowly opened it, a loud creak emitting from the old hinges.

The twins looked around in the calmly lit corridor. They didn't really have enough time to look around, since Toriel rushed them to the room before they did.

The hardwood floor was carpeted by a long yellowing rug that had a mesmerizing pattern sewn on it. The orange-yellow walls were dotted with candles every few steps.

Mabel walked over to a drawer and tentatively opened it, and a pile of snapped crayons and flower seeds slid towards her. She closed the drawer to run and catch up to her brother, who was examining a door with a sign on it.

'Please do not come in, this room is under renovations!'

The twins abided to this rule and left the door alone(although Dipper was still a bit skeptical about it,) and left the hallway and onto the main foyer, which was a colour scheme that leaned more towards creamy beige than the bold, bit washed yellow of the hallway.

Dipper and Mabel saw the same stairs they saw when Toriel ushered them into their room, yet now they had a few more moments to examine it clearly.

At the top of the stairs was a bookshelf similar to the one in the room, except it was neatly stacked with thick books instead of cluttery toys.

As Dipper went off to check out the books, Mabel looked up at the painting, hanging on the wall above the bookshelf, in wonder. The painting depicted a family, and Mabel could easily recognize Toriel among them. The other two, one short and child-like and the other tall and regal, looked similar to Toriel with the difference of clothing and horns.

Dipper frowned as he concentrated on one of the books and not Mabel's oogling at unnecessary stuff. The title was "The Orgin of the Undergound: Monsters for Dummies, or Humans, equally as dumb". He flipped through the pages with intensity, uttering things under his breath.

"I will figure you out, goat creature. Oh yes, nothing can escape the watchful eyes of Dipper Pines!" He muttered as he stopped at a page explaining a monster called "Moldbygg".

It pretends to be aMoldsmal, but once approached or attacked, it reveals itself as Moldbygg. It can be identified before it transforms, as it is completely stationary and has no animations in itsMoldsmal form. Another way to tell if it's a Moldbygg is if it is among other Moldsmal and it isn't spared when you spare the Moldsmal.

Dipper hummed at this and started to flip to another page until Mabel tugged on his sleeve gently.

"We should probably get back to the room now and wait for Toriel there," Mabel worried as her eyes shifted uncertainly.

"Oh, come on, I bet she's just waiting for us." Dipper got up and brushed off some of the dust of the book and balanced it between his arm and his side. Mabel frowned slightly as she followed her brother into a room across from the Hallway.

Toriel sat on a comfortable looking chair, a blanket draped over the back cushion. She wore reading glasses that balanced on her nose and held a small book that looked like it was taken from the bookshelf next to the crackling fire she sat next to.

Toriel looked up from her book and smiled. "Ah. I though you two would leave the room. Would you like to hear facts about snails? They're very interesting. " Toriel asked politely and from then Dipper could make out the title: 72 facts about snails.

"Actually I'd like to kno-"

"Of course I want to hear about snails!" Mabel exclaimed, interrupting her brother in finishing his sentence.

Toriel grinned at Mabel's eager expression and read a line from the book. "Did you know that..." Toriel paused for effect, "Snails. Talk. Very. Slowly?" The twins met her with silence until Mabel let out a supportive laugh. "Oh! Toriel you're killing me!" Toriel also joined in, her soft, ringing giggles laced with a couple of snorts.

"I'm joking, snails can't talk."

Dipper smiled weakly and began again, "Ha ha, yeah. But Toriel, I really want to know-"

"Another snail fact!" Mabel burst.

"Okay, sure!" Toriel said. "Did you know that snails make terrible shoelaces?" Mabel let out another loud guffaw session as Toriel joined in.

"I GET IT!" Mabel snorted. "Because they're slippery! Oh man goat mom, you're a riot."

Dipper stared at his sister in confusion.

What is she trying to do?

Toriel glanced up at the words and slowly went quiet. "What did you just call me?"

"Uh... goat mom?"

Toriel's grin spread to every end of the earth as she pulled Mabel in to a tight embrace. "How sweet of you! I know we're going to have the best time with you two living here!"

Dipper frowned. "Toriel, I want to know how to leave."

Toriel let go of Mabel (whose face was turning eternally blue), and stared back at the male twin. "W-what?"

"I said, I want to know how to leave the Ruins. I don't want to stay here for the rest of my life. I have friends, and a Grunkle, a-and a Great-uncle, and a Soos I have to get back to!" Dipper fumed.

"He said it would work..." Toriel muttered to herself. Toriel's smile faltered as she put her reading down and got up. "Stay right here, I have something to do."

The twins watched her go off into the other room and down the stairs. As they followed silently Dipper asked, "Mabel, what were you doing? We have to leave!"

Mabel looked at her brother for a few moments and sighed. "But I like it here. Dipper, you know how bad it is up at the surface. Stan is too busy with the Mystery Shack, Wendy is gone, Candy is gone, Grenda's off with her Australian boyfriend of whatever," Mabel's face scrunched up as a tear leaked from her eye. "And all you've been doing is sneaking off with Great Uncle Ford in that stupid basements doing stupid nerd stuff!" She finished off with a loud voice Crack, visibly shaking. "And i-"

She was cut off as Dipper rammed into her, holding on to her as he laid his head on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Mabel. I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea." Mabel sniffed in his ear as she sobbed on his shoulder. "A-and Toriel is t-t-the only pe-person who hasn't been ignoring me! WOUAHHHHHHH!"

"Sh...Mabel it's okay." Dipper continued to hug a crying Mabel with one hand as he started walking down the stairs and into a purple hallway; all one shade, the same as the Ruins.

The twins walked down the hallway, took a left turn, and continued to walk, only to meet a sorrow looking Toriel facing a tall, purple door with the same insignia that of the one on Toriel's dress.

"Toriel?" Mabel sniffed, eyes red from crying. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Mabel, Dipper, my children. I never thought I may have to come to this." Toriel turned around and met the eyes of the children.

Her eyes, although, were not the usual soft brown.

They were yellow, glowing, and stared right through the twins' souls.

"HA. HA HA." Toriel let out monotonous yet spine chilling laugher.

"T – Toriel? What's happening?" Mabel asked uncertainly.

"TAKE A WILD GUESS." Toriel raised her fingers in a triangle motion above her eye. "'MY CHILDREN'"

She let out another uncomfortable laugh as Dipper glared at the goat woman.

"Bill." He uttered simply.

"WELL, AREN'T YOU SMART?" Bill let out a toothy grin on the face of the motherly figure the twins looked up to. "OH, DONT MIND ME, JUST DOING MY PART IN A VERY...INTERESTING DEAL."

"No way! Toriel would never make a deal with the likes of you!" Dipper stuttered, eyes widened in disbelief.

"REALLY?" Bill said, stretching out the vowels in his word. He chuckled deeply. "OF COURSE THE GOAT CREATURE WOULD'VE MADE YOU BELIVE THAT. BUT, OH MAN, DO I HAVE A STORY FOR YOU!"

Mabel walked up to the possessed anthropomorphic goat and poked him in the chest. "Let her go! She never made a deal with you and she never will!"

"YOURE VERY PERSISTANT, I'LL GIVE YOU THAT, KID." Bill patted Mabel's head, turned her around and pushed her forward. "GO ON AND PLAY WITH YOUR TOYS COVERED IN MONSTER GORE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, KIDDO. THERE'S NO ESCAPING THIS TIME BUBBLE."

"Wait, what?" Dipper asked. "Time bubble?"

Bill smiles toothily. "NOTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW OF, PINE TREE. OF COURSE, NOTHING HERE FOR YOU EITHER, READERS." Bill noted ominously as the twins looked behind them curiously. Was there another person with them?

"WELL, MY WORK HERE IS DONE." And with that, Bill left Toriel's body and she slumped down into a heap.

I'm sure it was very attractive.

A low groan emitted from the pile of goat as she slowly got up, with the help of the twins, who were rambling out questions.

"Are you okay?"

"Do you know who Bill is?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Why did you make a deal with Bill?"

"Are you going to be okay?"

"What's a time bubble?"

"What does onomatopoeia mean?"

Dipper and Toriel stared at Mabel who blurted out the question. "What?" they asked.

"I would like to know!" Mabel crossed her sweater clad arms. "It's a free country!"

Dipper ignored her and looked back to Toriel, who was resting on one knee. "Why did you make a deal with Bill?" he asked again.

"Oh, I am so sorry my children. The triangle came to me at my lowest time. All the children who left me died...I had no choice. All I wanted to do was protect the next bundles of joy that came across my abode."

Mabel went up to Toriel and gave her a hug.

"Alas, you two are the same as the others. You may leave, if you wish."

Dipper stared at the anthropomorphic goat woman. She was at her lowest. She wanted to keep them trapped here. She made them trust her, and in the end, she made a deal with Bill. Dipper felt a boiling feeling at the pit of his stomach. It didn't feel like he wanted to throw up.

It felt like he wanted to hurt her.

To end her life, maybe?


	5. 5

Dipper stared at the anthropomorphic goat woman. She was at her lowest. She wanted to keep them trapped here. She made them trust her, and in the end, she made a deal with Bill. Dipper felt a boiling feeling at the pit of his stomach. It didn't feel like he wanted to throw up.

It felt like he wanted to hurt her.

To end her life, maybe?

But before Dipper could do anything he felt a tug on his sleeve.

"Dipper was right." Mabel sniffed, talking to a now standing Toriel. "Maybe...maybe we should leave. Goat mom...I'm sorry."

Toriel looked down, ashamed. "You are right. It was not my place to keep you here." She leaned in again, this time hugging both of the kids. "Although, I have one thing to ask of you. Please..." She hesitated and her eyes shifted to the side a bit.

"Please do not come back."

The twins met glances as the door behind them close.

As they walked down yet another hallway (this one going up a gradient) Mabel spoke, "What were you thinking back there?"

"Hm?"

"I mean, you looked so concentrated. Is something wrong?"

Dipper thought back to a few moments ago, when he felt that...weird feeling usurp in his stomach. He didn't feel like telling Mabel about it yet, so he just stayed quiet.

"It's nothing, really. I was just thinking about...Um...how good that pie Toriel made us!"

"I know, right!" Mabel said as her mood brightened. "Good thing I made the right choice before you chose...cinnamon." Mabel made a retching sound.

They continued to walk down the hall, Mabel's black Mary Janes 'click clacking' on the marble of the cold floor, until they reached another archway, this one wide open.

It led to a dark room, this one similar to the twins first met Flowey.

Speak of the devil...

"Clever," The aster raised a brow as he looked at the twins with a cheeky grin. "Veeerrry clever."

Flowey looked directly at Dipper. "You think you're really smart, don't you?"

Flowey then turned to face Mabel. "In this world, it's kill or be killed."

"So you two were able to play by your own rules. You spared the life of a single person." The Flower's smile stretched to the ends of it's face. "Hee hee hee...I bet you think you're really great."

"You didn't kill anyone this time. But what would you do when you meet a relentless killer?"

"You'll die,"

"And you'll die,"

"And you'll die."

"Until you tire of dying."

Mabel flinched at every word.

"What will you do then?" Flowey stared at Dipper, and the boy felt a weight in his pocket go heavy. "Will you kill out of frustration?"

Or will you give up on this world...and let ME inherit the power to control it?

I am the prince of this world's future.

Don't worry, my little monarchs. My plan isn't regicide.

This is so much more interesting.

And with that, Flowey's entire face morphed into a thousand toothed horror – and disappeared into the ground – in one swift movement.

The twins shared worried glances.

"Dipper...d-do you have anything in that backpack of yours? I'm starving." Mabel asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Dipper reached into his pack and laughed a little. "Yeah, I do. But it's that weird donut made of spiders." He shuddered.

Mabel grabbed the o-shaped pastrie from Dipper's hand and broke it in half, handing the other piece to her brother. "Take it, dude." She bit into the other peice herself and 'mmm'ed a bit satisfactorily. "Tastes gwreat!" She asserted.

Dipper looked down at the glazed pastrie. "Are you sure?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mabel took another bite, "Yeaaah, its awwesome!"

Dipper glared down at the donut half.

"Mabel, you've eaten things that weren't strictly food."

"There's A LOT of things you can eat that aren't food!" Mabel proclaimed. Dipper warily looked at his sister and gave in. "Alright..." He took a reculant bite, his eyes also lighting up.

"Mabwel! Vuis is amavwimg!" Dipper had a few more bites until the donut half disappeared from existence.

"I know right!" Mabel nodded, already at the other door. "You can barely taste the crushed up spider guts!"

Dipper stuttered and spit out what remained in his mouth. "MABEL! Eeeewwwwww!"

Mabel laughed as she looked back at the door in front of her. Dipper walked up next to her. "Er..."

"So..."

"Yeah..."

The twins gently pushed the door open. Maybe what was on the other side wouldn't be so bad.

-oooo-

The twin's eyes squinted as they adjusted to a bright light. It wasn't a light as flourecent, but the amount of white snow layering the ground was enough to give someone a headache, especially after they spent a while in a dimly lit area.

Mabel was the first to adjust and grabbed a peice of snow, then threw it at her brother. "Dipper! Look! Snow!"

"I know, I felt it." Dipper grumbled as he scanned his surroundings. There was a matted pathway barely covered with snow- someone must've shovelled here not long ago. The rest of the floor was just snow, that lead to a thick line of trees on either side of them.

Mabel went off to inspect a rock near the doorway. "Dipper, why does this rock have a camera in it?"

"I dunno, Mabel. Lets move on." Dipper started to walk forward, heavy breathing visible in small clouds of air. Mabel quickly ran after him.

They passed a random stick, and Mabel looked down at it. "Huh."

Dipper stopped walking and looked back. "What?"

"It's a stick. Looks like you, Dipper." Mabel laughed to herself and went to catch up with her brother, who was shivering slightly. "Geez Mabel...i-it's freezing out here..."

Mabel smiled and grabbed Dipper's backpack, pulling him back with a slight 'woah!'. She rummaged in and pulled out a Dipper-sized white and blue material. When it was fully out she stretched it to show a white sweater with blue accents on the sleeves and collar; there was even a small pine tree stitched on it. Mabel looked at her brother with a smile. "Good thing I made this for you. Dipper, you have no idea how incomplete your life is without sweaters!"

Dipper rolled his eyes and took off his vest, put on the sweater then placed the vest back on. "I'm only wearing this because it's from the doofus who wears sweaters in the summer." He did a half smile as his backpack slipped onto his shoulders.

"Wowo Dipper! It's gr-" Mabel 's sentence was interrupted by the sound of a twig snapping. All was guessed well, as the twins looked around, the stick-bearing-a-resemblance-to-"Dipper"-constellation-based-nickname-Pines was snapped in half.

They blinked as a shadowy figure emerged from behind one of the birch trees. It advanced, it's footsteps crunching in the snow.

It stopped right in front of the twins, and they could see the indents of a smile in the shadow.

"HUMANS."

"Ominous figure," Mabel greeted in response.

The figure ignored her and went on, "DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO GREET A NEW PAL? C'MERE AND SHAKE MY HAND." A hand shadow went out and the twins looked tentatively at it.

Dipper held out his hand and it was met with a quite bony one, not saying a very skinny hand, but an actual hand missing the skin and tissue. As Dipper's and the hand compressed a small sound omitted from the two.

'ppppppbbbbbbbttttt ttt btttt ppppppbbbbbbbttttt ffff...'

The next thing Dipper could faintly hear was Mabel's belly laughter as the skeleton in front of him joined in.

"oh man..." The skeleton wheezed as he placed a hand on a tree for support, his other arm clutching his stomach. "the ol' whoopie cushion in the hand trick. always a classic."

"He's right it is," Mabel snorted as she quickly recovered from rolling of the snow-covered ground.

"anyways. im sans. sans the skeleton." Dipper eyed him suspiciously. After what happened in the Ruins a few moments ago, he learned not to trust people who introduce themselves in that way.

"That's awesome. I'm Mabel. Mabel the...Sweater Human!" She looked over at Dipper. "Did that sound okay?"

"Uh, great." Dipper nodded, slowly reaching for the"The Orgin of the Undergound: Monsters for Dummies, or Humans, equally as dumb" book in his backpack, which he abbreviated into "TOU:MDH". Dipper then realized this abbreviation was very awkward and decided to make another one later.

"hey, pine tree." Dipper stopped functioning at those two words and glared up at Sans.

"What did you just call me?"

"er, pine tree? because of the little..." Sans pointed at the blue insignia on Dipper's hat and sweater. "y'know..."

"Yeah, got it." Dipper grumbled as he stomped away from Sans and Mabel.

Mabel looked at Sans with apologetic eyes. "So, sorry for my brother. He can be kinda...euh..." Mabel tried to explain but let the sentence trail off and hoped that Sans got the point.

"yeah. we get a lot of humans like that in the underground." Sans said as he started following Dipper, his footsteps heavy. "so, what brings you two here?"

"We fell down a hole and met a flower." Dipper said flatly, the skeleton and his sister catching up to him. He glanced behind his shoulder. "Why are you in this creepy forest by yourself?"

Sans chuckled. "touche. well, what im really supposed to be on the watch for humans right now. but, y'know, I really don't feel like capturing anyone today." Sans' bright white pupils glanced to the side. "my brother, however. oh, he's a human-hunting fanatic."

Sans looked over the twin's heads, to where there was a small sentry station and a weird looking lamp. "actually, i think that's him over there."

"...the lamp?" Dipper asked.

"uh, no, actually. it's pretty hard not to miss him. he's coming. quick, behind that conveniently shaped lamp." Sans urged as a blur of red flashed through the trees.


	6. 6

Sans looked over the twin's heads, to where there was a small sentry station and a weird looking lamp. "actually, i think that's him over there."

"...the lamp?" Dipper asked.

"uh, no, actually. it's pretty hard not to miss him. he's coming. quick, behind that conveniently shaped lamp." Sans urged as a blur of red flashed through the trees.

The twins looked at each other briefly and ran to the lamp. It was, in fact, a very conveniently shaped lamp, as it managed to fit one of the twin's entire body.

The problem was...there was only one.

Dipper gave Sans a panick-y look, only for Sans to nudge his head at the sentry station on Dipper's left. Dipper caught what he meant and quickly dove under the counter. In the station were a few bottles of ketchup, mustard, relish...

And...

...a magazine issue of 'The Bone Zone?'

...What?

Mabel giggled as she positioned herself to match the silhouette of the green-purple lamp. "Lamp's pretty bland," she pointed out to nobody in particular. She slowly reached in her skirt pocket (which she stitched on herself, calling it a 'revolution in fashion') and pulled out a folded sheet of shiny star stickers. She then proceeded to carefully apply them to the shade of the lamp.

Meanwhile, Dipper peeked over the counter of the sentry station to see another skeleton. This one also had a permanent smile on their face and was taller than Sans, by a Longshot. So this must be Sans' younger brother, although he looked older than the laid-back skeleton. This skeleton wore a cape-like red scarf, along with some sort of weird costume with the bottom of his vertebrae showing. He looked like a really confident skeleton, and this was confirmed when Dipper heard him speak.

"sup, bro."

"YOU KNOW WHAT'S 'SUP' BROTHER!" The skeleton said angrily. "IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND ALL DAY OUTSIDE YOUR STATION!" The skeleton looked around skeptically. "WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!"

"staring at this lamp. its really cool. wanna take a look?" Sans responded. Dipper glared at the shorter skeleton. Does he want them to get caught?

The other skeleton stomped his leg in frustration. "NO! I DONT HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE? I WANT TO BE PREPARED!"

"I WILL BE THE ONE!"

"I MUST BE THE ONE!"

"I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!"

"THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS..." Papyrus stood straighter and more confident, rolling the r's in the word 'great'. Dipper just rolled his eyes at the tall skeleton.

He refered to himself in the third person.

That's just...peachy.

Papyrus continued his speech. "...WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I TRULY AND UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT! RECOGNITION! I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK TO BE. MY. FRIEND?" Dipper tuned out the rest of his speech and turned to his left to see Mabel bedazzling the lamp she was hiding behind with shiny, noticeable star stickers.

"Mabel! What are you doing?" Dipper hissed at his sister. Mabel rolled her brown eyes at her brother. Could he not see the obvious abundance that took place in front of her?

"I'm doing...ART." Mabel stated simply.

"That...doesn't make any grammatical sense." Dipper pointed out with a raised index finger.

"Your face doesn't make any grammatical sense!" Mabel countered.

"SANS, I THINK YOUR LAMP IS TALKING. AGAIN." Papyrus noted. The tall skeleton walked up to the newly bedazzled green and purple lamp.

"SOMETHINGS...DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS LAMP."

"ah, I probably just left it in the sun too long."

"SANS, THERE IS NO SUN." Papyrus narrowed his eyesockets. "NOT THAT I KNOW OF."

"What are you talking about!" Mabel said from behind the lamp. Mabel, NO! Dipper thought frantically.

"The sun, is right HERE!" Mabel popped out in front of Papyrus, her face covered in dozens of laminated star stickers.

"A.A.A.A.A. MY EYES!" Papyrus screeched as the stickers reflected off the snow, causing the stickers to shine in his face. Papyrus rubbed his eyes harshly and looked back down at Mabel Pines.

His face brightened in realization and looked back at Sans, who nodded.

Papyrus looked down at Mabel, then back at Sans.

Back at Mabel, back at Sans.

Mabel.

Sans.

Mabel.

Sans.

MabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMabelSansMa-

"AND NOW, the circle of stupidity is complete," Dipper sighed as he stepped out of his hiding place. Papyrus gasped.

"SANS. IS THAT...ARE THOSE...TWO HUMANS?" Papyrus asked excitedly.


	7. 7

"SANS. IS THAT...ARE THOSE...TWO HUMANS?" Papyrus asked excitedly.

"uh. papy, i think you need to get your eyes checked. obviously those are two snowballs." Sans said, motioning at two large bundles of snow placed behind the twins.

"HUH. WELL, I GUESS YOU'RE RIGHT." Papyrus stood up and walked away from Sans and the twins. "I'LL BE OFF TO ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES. AND AS FOR YOUR WORK...PUT A LITTLE MORE, BACKBONE INTO IT!" And with that, Papyrus walked out of sight, his odd laughter mostly conducted by 'NYEH's and 'HEH's.

"Well...that was awkward." Dipper said as he walked away from his hiding spot. He found that hiding behind a sentry station was much easier than standing as still as a statue while a skeleton breathed on you heavily.

"Not as awkward as your emo phase, Dipper." Mabel said as Dipper glared at her.

"We do NOT bring up my emo phase! Ever!"

"Alright, alright." Mabel walked up to Sans, who was staring at the spot where Papyrus stood. "It's weird how Papyrus didn't even notice us there at all."

"heh, yeah. hes gotten to trust me more after what happened last week at undynes house." Sans replied.

Mabel gushed. "Undyne? Who is that?"

"lets just say...she doesn't squid around. man, we had a whale of a time at her place."

"I sea what you did there."

"are you shore?"

"AAAAARRRGH!" Dipper fumed as he pulled Mabel away from the skeleton. "Come on, Mabel."

"Water you doing, Dip dop?" Mabel asked as she was dragged across the ground.

"Shell we make more puns next time?" She called to the skeleton.

"cant bait!" Sans called back. His eyes widened as he remembered something. "actually, hey, hate to bother ya, but could you do me a favour?" Dipper looked back with piqued interest.

"Sure. What is it?"

"my brother's been feeling kind of down lately. he's never seen a human before, and seeing you might just make his day. don't worry, he's not dangerous. even if he tried to be." Sans assured. He seemed like his brother wouldn't be okay without the twin's help. Seeing the desperation in his eyes- er, eye sockets – Mabel agreed, but with some complaint from Dipper.

"thanks a million. i'll be up ahead." Sans thanked and sped off in the other direction.

"What? He's going the wrong way!" Dipper pointed out.

"Maybe he needs to do something there first. Come on, Dipper." The twins continued on until they found a box. To sum up, the box read that it would carry your stuff, and you didn't have to go to an individual box to get your stuff back, that your items travelled with you in the boxes. Inside the box was a tough glove. Dipper put it on and it clashed horribly with his sweater, but Mabel couldn't help but point out that it looked fabulous.

Dipper and Mabel decided to go to their left first, but all that was there was a fishing pole stuck in the ground. They went back down and forward, where they found Papyrus and Sans having a small conversation.

"...SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE," Papyrus started, but seemed to notice the twins. The skeleton brothers took turns looking at the pair of humans until it looked like they were getting whiplash. Finally they turned so their backs were facing the humans.

"SANS! OH MY GOD, ARE THOSE...HUMANS!?" Papyrus exclaimed.

"er, actually, i think thats a rock." Sans shrugged. "but what's that in front of the rock?"

"OH MY GOD!" Papyrus squealed. "ARE THOSE HUMANS." Papyrus lowered his voice to a whisper but the twins still heard him. "yes," Sans whispered back.

"OH MY GOD! SANS, I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL...I'M GONNA...I'M GONNA BE SO POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!" Papyrus screamed in joy. Dipper was starting to get scared. Maybe letting Papyrus see them was a bad idea?

"AHEM...HUMANS! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU!" Papyrus declared as he pointed at the humans.

"I WILL CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! AND THEN...THEN..." Papyrus paused, trying to recall what exactly happens next.

"I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT. IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE! IF YOU DARE...NYEH! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus concluded as he jogged forward, leaving the twins and Sans alone.

"well, that went well." Sans said. Dipper shivered, anxious. Mabel caught him before he could slip into another panic attack. "don't sweat it, kid. i'll keep an eye out for ya both. and plus, you're not the only one who has panic attacks." Sans winked before walking away. Dipper's jaw dropped. He started to trust Sans a little more now.

The twins walked on, but were interrupted by an incoming phone call. Mabel picked up instantly hoping it was Toriel. "U-uhhh..." A nerdy voice said. "I'd like to order a... um... a pizza? With, uhh... the toppings are, uhh... I have them copied, I'll just paste them to you." The person said, but the phone was too old to receive texts. Instead, it reads out loud, character-by-character, an ASCII art of an anime cat girl. The twins were confused, but the person on the other end hung up before they could say anything.

Dipper and Mabel shivered from second-hand embarrassment. Dipper put the phone away and the two kept moving.

They walked past a sign that read 'Absolutely NO MOVING!' Dipper was confused, but looked over at Mabel who was already starting to move on. He caught up but they were soon stopped again by a doggish humanoid springing out from behind a sentry station. "Did something move? Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things."

Dipper held his breath. Meanwhile, Mabel was beaming at the dog. "If something was moving... for example, a human... I'll make sure it never moves again!" The dog threatened. Mabel stepped back, which made the dog's eyes snap to her, and a fight began.

The twins grabbed each other and squeaked. The dog held two daggers and looked around skeptically. "Don't move an inch!" The dog shrieked.


	8. 8

The twins grabbed each other and squeaked. The dog held two daggers and looked around skeptically. "Don't move an inch!" The dog shrieked. He brandished one of his daggers as it started to glow blue. The twins froze in fear. The blade passed over their still souls, but it didn't do anything. The glow of their souls was the same.

Meanwhile, Mabel was creeping around, concentrating hard to keep her soul in place. Her skirt was blowing around in the wind, making her slightly uncomfortable. She tiptoed along until she was right behind him. Mabel reached up, and pet Doggo.

"WHAT! I'VE BEEN PET!" Doggo started freaking out. His eyes crossed and he started yipping frantically. Blindly, he took one of his blue daggers and swung again, but the souls were still frozen under their owners' commands.

Dipper and Mabel took their chance and ran away. Their souls disappeared, and they ran off, staying on the path.

They came to yet another clearing (it seemed like it was cleared out for safer traveling), and saw their friend Sans. Mabel beamed and the two dashed over to their friend to talk.

"hey, here's something important to remember." Sans started. The twins looked at each other and nodded, then looked back at Sans. "my brother has a very special attack. if you see a blue attack, don't move and it won't hurt you."

"Oh, yeah, that guy back there used a blue attack on us." Dipper informed. Sans faltered. "r-right. anyway, here's an easy way to keep it in mind. imagine a stop sign. when you see a stop sign, you stop, right?"

Mabel nodded. "Well yeah, but aren't stop signs red?" She asked. "i'm getting to that. stop signs are red. so imagine a blue stop sign instead. simple, right? when fighting, think about blue stop signs." Sans suggested. "Okay, er, thanks Sans." Dipper thanked. "heh. no problem, kiddos." Sans replied, and ruffled Dipper's hair.

Dipper and Mabel walked on, but they didn't notice the ice. They slid, and crashed into a sign. Dipper read, "North, ice. South, ice. West, ice. East, Snowdin Town."

"...and more ice."

By the time he regained his focus Mabel was already five feet in front of him, walking east toward Snowdin Town. Dipper speed-walked to catch up with her, and soon they were walking side by side again.

Up ahead, they spotted Papyrus and Sans talking 'quietly.' "YOU'RE SO LAZY! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!" Papyrus scolded.

"i think that's called sleeping." Sans shrugged.

"EXCUSES, EXCUSES!" Papyrus nagged. He turned to the twins.

"OH-HO! THE HUMANS ARRIVE! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU... MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES!" Papyrus announced. Dipper's face lit up. He loved puzzles. Mabel smiled back at him.

"I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE... QUITE SHOCKING!" Papyrus informed.

"FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE... ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP! SOUND LIKE FUN?"

"Actually n-"

"BECAUSE! THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE, IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL I THINK. OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW."

The twins linked arms and stepped into the maze, but Papyrus was the one to get zapped.

"SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Papyrus stomped foot in anger.

"i think the humans have to hold the orb." Sans suggested.

"OH, OKAY." Papyrus shrugged. He walked through the maze, leaving obvious footprints as a path through the maze. Papyrus threw the orb in the air, and it landed it the twins' hands. They held it in between them, each has one hand holding the orb. Papyrus then dashed back to his spot.

"OKAY, TRY NOW!" Papyrus called. The twins followed the path of footprints to the end of the maze.

"INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! YOU TWO SOLVED IT SO EASILY... TOO EASILY!" Papyrus stared at the two suspiciously, and Dipper gulped.

"HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus laughed, then dashed off, running backwards.

Dipper and Mabel walked over to Sans. "hey, thanks... my brother seems like he's having fun." Sans thanked. "Anytime, Sans!" Mabel replied with a cheeky smile. Sans chuckled. "by the way, did you see that weird outfit my brother's wearing? we made that a few weeks ago for a costume party. He hasn't worn anything else since... he keeps calling it his 'battle body.'"

"Man. Isn't my brother cool?" Sans grinned.

"Uh, yeah. Come on Mabel, let's, uh, move on." Dipper pushed Mabel forward.

They came to a cliff with a vendor by the edge. He seemed disappointed, so naturally Mabel went to cheer him up.

"I don't understand why these aren't selling... it's the perfect weather for something cold..." The rabbit-man mumbled to himself. Then he noticed the twins. "OH! A CUSTOMER! Hello! Would you like some Nice Cream? It's the frozen treat that warms your heart! Now just 15g!" The man offered.

Mabel reached into her brother's backpack and scavenged for some of the D, D,ND coins they had when they bought the spider pastries. Instead, the coins were gone and the only ones she saw were the coins near Doggo's stand. She had picked them up and slipped them into Dipper's pack while they were walking, silently humming the Metal Gear theme. Is this what passed up as currency in the underground?

Mabel decided to test it and counted up coins that equalled the amount of 45, then gave them to the rabbit-man.

"Here you go! Have a super-duper day!" The man handed them two mint-green ice cream packages.

They crossed a bridge to a snow-covered clearing. There was a giant snow ball, and Mabel couldn't help but kick it.

"Dipper! Go long!"

Dipper smiled, and sprinted toward the ball. He kicked it back toward Mabel, who got toppled over by the ball's size.

They kicked it back and forth, laughing, finally having fun since falling down. Finally Mabel kicked it into a hole in the ground, and a red flag popped up.

Just then, some money popped out of the hole, and Mabel scrambled to pick it up and put it in their backpack.

Dipper and Mabel moved on, waking to a clearing where, once again, Sans and Papyrus were waiting.

"HUMANS! I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR... SANS! WHERE'S THE PUZZLE!" Papyrus questioned.

"it's right there. on the ground." Sans responded. "trust me. there's no way they can get past this one."

Dipper and Mabel walked up to the paper on the ground and picked it up. It was some sort of word search.

"What's... 'giasfclfubrehber?" Mabel asked.

Dipper put it back down when he realized he didn't have anything to write with.

Mabel walked up to Papyrus. "SANS! THAT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Papyrus yelled.

"whoops. i knew i should have used today's crossword instead." Sans shrugged.

"WHAT!? CROSSWORD!? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT! IN MY OPINION... JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST." Papyrus gasped.

"what? really, dude? that easy-peasy word scramble? that's for baby bones." Sans shot back.

"UN. BELIEVABLE. HUMANS! SOLVE THIS DISPUTE!" Papyrus ordered.


	9. 9

The twins discussed and agreed that crossword puzzles were harder, but Papyrus looked like he needed the self-esteem boost. The twins tell him that Junior Jumble is the hardest.

"HA! HA! YES! HUMANS MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT! IF THEY ALSO FIND JUNIOR JUMBLE SO DIFFICULT! NYEH! HEH! HEH HEH!" Papyrus cackled and ran off.

"Hey. Thanks for saying 'junior jumble' just to appease my brother. Yesterday he got stumped trying to 'solve' the horoscope." Sans murmured. Mabel snickered. "Sounds like something you would do, dipstick." Dipper shook his head in disappointment.

In the next room the twins were determined for nearby mouse who was to eat the spaghetti that was sitting on the table.

There was a note on the table, in which Papyrus wrote how the spaghetti that was stuck on the table was a trap.

"The only trap I see here is the spaghetti getting stuck in your braces," Dipper pointed out.

The twins carried on, but came upon a dog wearing armor. It looked like that doge meme. The dog's presence triggered a fight.

Dipper checked the dog in his book. It read: Lesser Dog - 7 ATK points 0 DEF points. Wields a stone dogger made of pomer-granite.

Dipper sighed.

Lesser Dog panted, then sent out a dog made out of magic toward the twins. It jumped, and it just barely missed Dipper.

Mabel reached out to pet Lesser Dog, but its head raised. Mabel recoiled.

Lesser Dog's dogger glowed blue, then swiped at the twins. It didn't affect them, but the dogger came back, white this time, and hit both twins. Mabel jumped at the stinging pain in her side.

Dipper left the dog before things could get weird. That growing neck freaked him out.

The twins turned the other way and ran. They ran until they stumbled upon a snow pit, which they realized covered a map. Mabel went to where the X was on the map. Hidden in the snow was a rusty switch. She pressed it, and a distant click could be heard.

Mabel raced back over to Dipper, who was sitting and shivering. He stood up again when he spotted her, and they moved on.

They stepped over where a wall of spikes used to be and they crossed a bridge. But they froze in fear as soon as they noticed two giant dog guards in cloaks approaching. They held giant battle axes and were frantically smelling the air.

"What's that smell?" One of them asked. "Where's that smell?" The other questioned. "If you're a smell..." "Identity yoursmellf!"

The dogs began sniffing around in a big frenzy, trying to search for the twins, and miraculously not bumping into them. "Hmm... here's that weird smell..." One dog pondered. "It makes me want to eliminate." "Eliminate YOU!" The other shrieked. A fight followed the threat.

Dipper checked the dogs. Dogamy - 6 ATK points 4 DEF points. Knows only what he smells. Dogaressa - 6 ATK points 4 DEF points. This puppy finds her hubby lovely. SMELLS ONLY?

The twins tried to leave the dog couple, but to no avail. The dogs took their axes and swung them down at the twins. Dipper was almost crushed by one, the sharp tip of the axe grazing his finger. They then shifted their axes to try to protect each other. Mabel thought that was adorable and smiled.

Then Dipper got an idea. These dogs rely on smell. Maybe he can change his scent to something more dog-friendly.

He grabbed his sister and pulled her down into the dirt. He would probably regret this later, but if it meant saving their skins now, he thought he could bare through being wet for a little bit.

Together the twins rolled through the dirt, getting the scent all over them. Then they stood up straight and the dogs smelled the humans once again. They looked confused. But stopped being as hostile.

Then the twins separated, each going to pet a dog. Maybe it would confuse them even more?

The reached up on their tiptoes, and pat the dogs' heads. Their eyes widened, and they gasped. The twins took this as their chance to spare the dogs. Their souls faded.

"Dogs can pet other dogs?" Dogamy asked. "A new world has opened up for us..." Dogaressa beamed. "Thanks, weird puppy!"

The twins progressed, and came upon another puzzle. The sign that explained it read: Turn every X into an O. Then press the switch.

Dipper and Mabel trudged to either side of the puzzle and stepped on an X. Dipper headed toward the switch while Mabel walked over to the spike wall and waited for Dipper. Once he came back the twins strolled along to the next place.

Just then the two noticed the skeleton Papyrus. "WHAT!? HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP? AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY... IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME?" Papyrus asked.


	10. 10

Just then the two noticed the skeleton Papyrus. "WHAT!? HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP? AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY... IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME?" Papyrus asked. The twins didn't know what he was talking about, so they just said yes.

"REALLY!? WOWIE... YOU RESISTED THE FLAVOR OF MY HOMECOOKED PASTA.. JUST SO YOU COULD SHARE IT WITH ME?" Papyrus gawked. "Uh, sure, Papyrus." Dipper smiled. "FRET NOT HUMANS! I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS... WILL MAKE YOU ALL THE PASTA YOU COUKD EVER WANT! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH NYEH!" Papyrus bellowed. Mabel beamed so hard her face started to hurt. She couldn't help but run up to him and give him a hug.

Papyrus patted Mabel's head as she let go and smiled. Then he raced off once again. Mabel thought he might not be so much of a threat after all. The twins linked arms and bounced to the next clearing, determined because they might actually make it to Snowdin Town alive.

-oooo-

Mabel smiled as she saw a sign with a banner on it. On the banner, hand painted in red and blue letters, were the words, 'Welcome to Snowdin'.

"How would you even pronounce that?" Dipper asked skeptically as he rubbed his chin. "Snow. Din?"

"That doesn't make any sense." Mabel's face lit up as she made the connection. "Snowed in! Like if, you were stuck at home with ten feet of snow covering your front door!"

Dipper narrowed his eyes at the sign and sighed. "Is Sans the mayor of this town?"

"What?"

"Not even ten steps to the building in front of us and I can tell that Sans has done something to this town." Dipper stared at his feet, deep in thought. "Why cant the town be named something like," Dipper looked around in exasperation at all the snow. "Canada, or something. That would be much better than 'Snowdin'."

"Dipper! This is not Canada! What if there were some Canadian animals in here? That would be very offensive." Mabel tried.

"How would that be offensive?"

"What if Canada doesn't have snow. What if all that snow was just Canada's snow phase." Mabel sighed and looked to the side. "Look, Dipper, I'm exhausted, and I know you are too. Come on, let's go find a place to rest."

Dipper's face crumpled as he ran into his sister's arms and buried his face in her shoulder. They started walking awkwardly and Dipper mumbled something that went along the lines of, "This isn't even an anime why are we talking about countries".

The twins walked on, until they came across a small building titled, 'Inn'.

"Don't. Say. A. Thing." Dipper started but was too late as Mabel beat him to the cut.

"Guess you could say it's...Snowed Inn!" Mabel snorted. Dipper groaned and was pretty sure he heard a trombone play in the distance.

Dipper placed his hand on the door and started pushing, and after only a few measly attempts Mabel pointed to a sign that said, 'Pull'.

Dipper smiled awkwardly and grabbed the handle he thought wasn't there a few moments ago. The twins walked in, and a huge wave of heat blasted them in their faces. Snow melted, only to turn into water, drowning their clothes and hair and causing puddles to form around their feet and settle in the soft yellow rug. Dipper smiled, the same yellow almost matching the walls in Toriel's home. His stomach dropped, remembering the old goat. He had no idea why the thought of killing her popped up in his brain earlier. He would have to tell Mabel about it later.

There was a pink bunny at the desk, standing in her hind legs as if she were human. She was clad in a darker shade pink dress with a black belt wrapped around her waist. She was looking down at a book at the desk, writing with a pen that she dipped into an orb like bottle every so often. To the right, there was another small bunny peeking out from behind the desk.

Mabel closed the door, and it activated a small bell that chimed a few times. The lady bunny looked up and smiled at the twins.

"Hello! Welcome to the Snowdin Inn!" The bunny called. She placed her pen down and looked the twins up and down. "Er, you don't have any fur... you must be freezing. Would you like to stay here for a night? It's only 80g."

Mabel gaped at the price.

Dipper took off his backpack and rummaged through. Everything was soaking wet except for the pie in the Tupperware. He tried to collect the right amount of coins but was fourteen coins less.

"Euh...this is as much as we have..." Dipper placed the coins on the counter, but the bunny pushed them back to him.

"It's fine," She smiled. "You two really look like you need a rest." She placed a key in Dipper's palm and closed a fist around it. "There's a bathhouse at the end of the hall upstairs and your room is two doors to the left."

"Really you don't have t-" Dipper narrowed his eyes at the hand that covered his mouth. "What he meant to say was, Thank you." Mabel smiled. Dipper grabbed Mabel's hand and flung it off his face.

The Innkeeper watched as the twins walked towards the stairs on the left. However, before Mabel could continue on, she spotted a ball of white fur at the corner of her eye approach her. Two sparkling black eyes stared back at her as the long ears on its head twitched profusely.

"Hello there!" Mabel greeted. She felt a tug on her arm as Dipper beckoned her up the stairs. She took her gaze away from the small bunny and followed Dipper to the second loft.

The hallway was dimly lit, four doors on the left side and three on the right. At the end, was a slightly opened door, with light pooling from the cracks.

Mabel skipped to their assigned door while Dipper tried his best to stay on his feet. When he got there, he handed the key to Mabel and slumped against the dark orange wallpaper. His sister stuck the key in the lock and turned it to a degree.

As soon as the door was opened, Dipper managed to sprint to the nearest bed and flop on his stomach.

Mabel snorted at her brothers behaviour and walked to her own small bed in the corner. The room was as dim as the hall, with a carpet not as lavish as the one outside covered the floor. Mabel took the backpack from Dipper's arms then placed it on a table that was pushed against the wall. The table looked a lot like an Ikea table and Mabel wondered if they had monster Ikea down here. With Swedish meatballs.

She then felt her damp sweater and sighed. Mabel took it off, revealing a pink t-shirt with a little heart stitched on it. She put the sweater on the table and walked out of the room, towards the door at the end of the hall.

Inside, were two large, wooden pools filled with water. One for girls and one for guys presumably. Then she spotted a third one not quite as big as the other two on the side. One for monsters that weren't girls or boys.

All the monsters in the tubs looked at her briefly before heading back to their conversations. She grabbed a towel from one of the many on hooks and placed it next to where she was going to bathe. Mabel took off her mary-janes and her skirt, then jumped in the water with three other lady monsters.

One looked really old, her cheeks practically touching the soapy water, and her eyes were all droopy. She looked like a cross between a rooster and a squirrel. Another lady, about the same age as her, looked like a humanoid rat that kept staring at Mabel with beady eyes.

Lastly there was a chubby, purple furred bunny that was lounging casually next to Mabel. She looked down at her and smiled. "Cant remember the last time I've seen a new face around here. I'm the shopkeeper right next to this building."

Mabel nodded. "Yeah, I saw that place right before we came here! There was a sign saying it was closed, though."

"Yeah. I'm on my break." The Shopkeeper let out a huge breath and placed her arms behind her head. "So, Where did you come from? The capital?" She asked. Mabel shook her head.

After a few moments of silence, Mabel asked, "So, what can you do in Snowdin?"

"You want to know what to do here in Snowdin?" The Shopkeeper repeated. Mabel nodded. "Grillby's has food, and the library has information...If you're tired, you can take a nap here - my sister runs it." She explained, waving her hand around.

"And if you're bored, you can sit outside and watch those wacky skeletons do their thing. There's two of 'em..." The Shopkeeper furrowed her brows. "Brothers, I think. They just showed up one day and...asserted themselves." She looked over at Mabel. "The town has gotten a lot more interesting since then."

Mabel sniffed and assumed she was talking about Papyrus and Sans, seeing as those two were the only wacky skeletons she'd seen so far. To start more conversation, Mabel asked, "How's it living here?"

The Shopkeeper looked up for a moment. "Life is the same as usual."

"A little claustrophobic...But...we all know deep down that freedom is coming, don't we?" Mabel watched as the Shopkeeper sunk deeper into the water.

"As long as we got that hope, we can grit our teeth and face the same struggles, day after day..."

"That's life, ain't it?"

-oooo-

Dipper looked up from his literature as his sister walked into the hotel room. Mabel was wearing a white towel wrapped around her head. "You're up early," She pointed out. She held up a little paper bag and waved it around. "Guess what, Cinnamon bun is short for cinnamon bunny. That's so cute!"

Dipper placed his book on his lap. It was OU:MDH (he found a much more suitable abbreviation); there were coloured pieces of paper bundled between the pages already. "What an amazing thing. Did you get a Cinnamon Bunny?"

"Mayyyybeee..." Mabel skipped towards her brothers bed and tossed him the bag. He opened it, and a sweet sugary smell filled his nose. Dipper reached in and grabbed one of the biggest Cinnamon Buns he had ever seen. Cinnamon and sugar covered the hot bun and white icing flowed from the top of the bun and started dripping down Dipper's hand. He took a huge bite out of the side quickly and licked the trail going down his wrist. A look of delight flooded his face. He looked over to his twin, who was watching him carefully. "So?"

"Amavwimg!" Dipper smiled. He grabbed the book he was reading and walked over to Mabel's bed. "Look what I found," He flipped to the page he was reading and Mabel gasped as one eye looked back at her.

A page titled 'Bill Cipher' in bold letters was presented to her as the triangular demon was drawn near the top of the page in white pen, seemingly popping out from the page. Underneath it, was written, 'HP: ? ATK: ? DEF: ?'

"Weird, right?" Dipper said.

"Wait! I have an idea." Mabel yelled all of a sudden. She grabbed a broken crayon from the backpack and drew a pair of lips underneath Bill's eye.

"Modern." Mabel nodded at her handiwork. Dipper let out a small chuckle.

-oooo-

The next morning, Mabel and Dipper politely thanked the Innkeeper and went on their way. They were wearing new sweaters, Mabel's was a bright green sweater with two bold yellow stripes going through it. Dipper had a orange sweater with a pumpkin stitched on it, but it looked even worse with the neon pink tough glove.

The twins passed a tall, decorated tree surrounded by a few monsters. They asked around about the tree and the monsters said something about how teenagers used to put decorations on a deer-like monster.

Dipper had his eyes on a library up ahead, he told his sister that he would be back then ran to the building.

Mabel walked to the left of the tree and found a small bungalow with a few rocks in front of it. One of them had a moustache which she found pretty funny. Across from the rocks and house was a wolf monster throwing large ice cubes into the river. Mabel didn't understand why, and headed back towards more civilization.

Before she could catch up with Dipper in the library she went over to a building called 'Grillby's'.

-oooo-

Dipper frowned and flipped another page.

Apparently, from this poorly – written essay, when monsters die, other monsters take their dust and put it on their favourite thing so they can be with it forever.

And then the end of the essay the writer just gave up on finishing it.

Dipper put the book back and glanced up from the one he was about to grab at the chiming bell of the library door opening.

Mabel wiped her feet on the entrance mat and walked over to her brother. "Dipper! You won't believe what just happened!" She shook her head causing her hair to fly everywhere and water to land anywhere within a three feet radius.

"What happened?" Dipper asked before wiping water off of his face with the back of his hand.

"There was this guy! And his head was made of fire! Like- fwoosh!" Mabel then proceeded to wiggle her fingers, imitating fire.

"That's – um – that's great Mabel!" Dipper smiled weakly and got up from his crouch position. "Where to next?"

"Wait!"

"Shhh!" The librarian called from her desk.

"Sorry!" Mabel winced and continued. "Wait. You gotta put these books back first, Dipper. That's being rude."

Dipper rolled his eyes and picked up the stack of books, that covered his face. Mabel took them off one by one and placed them back in their respective shelves.

They said their thanks to the librarian and continued on.

Finally, they reached a large cabin-like structure, with Christmas lights hanging from the ledges. There were two stories, and a small, backdoor on the side of it. The twins ignored that and noticed two mail boxes, one filled with junk mail labelled 'sans' and the other empty, labelled 'PAPYRUS' in swirly curly letters. Mabel felt bad for the skeleton and reached into Dipper's bag, then pulled out the crayons from earlier and a sort of soggy piece of paper. She scribbled down something, shielding it from Dipper's sight with her back, then opened the mail box and placed it inside.

"That's better," Mabel wiped her hands together and skipped forward before Dipper could say anything. He eyed the mail box one last time and followed his sister.

They walked a bit further until a noticeable mist entered their vision. The air got thicker and the wind howled in their ears. A small snowfall began the further they ventured.

"Uhhhh..." Dipper groaned as he latched onto Mabel's arm.

Suddenly, the outline of a silhouette came to view; tall and confident and resembling the remarkable figure of the loud skeleton they met back in the Snowdin Forest.

"HUMANS." Papyrus called. "ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. FEELINGS LIKE..." At the end of an outstretched hand was one, upward pointed finger. "THE JOY OF FINDING ANOTHER PASTA LOVER." Papyrus held out another finger," THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHER'S PUZZLE-SOLVING SKILLS." He pulled back all his fingers and they sprung back in place, along with a third one, "THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL."

"THESE FEELINGS... THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW! I CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST BE LIKE TO FEEL THAT WAY." Mabel and Dipper exchanged confused glances.

"AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT. I DON'T EVER WONDER WHAT HAVING LOTS OF FRIENDS IS LIKE. I PITY YOU... LONELY HUMANS..." Papyrus paused for effect and continued.

"WORRY NOT! YOU SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE YOUR... …"

"NO... NO, THIS IS ALL WRONG! I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND!" Papyrus pulled back his arm and crossed it in front of his chest along with his left one.

"YOU ARE A HUMAN! I MUST CAPTURE YOU! THEN, I CAN FULFILL MY LIFELONG DREAM! POWER! POPULAR! PRESTIGIOUS!"

He pointed at himself with his thumb."THAT'S PAPYRUS!"

"THE NEWEST MEMBER... OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"

The twins' eyes widened as some of the mist retreated revealing Papyrus' determined face. He raised on hand, keeping the other on his hip, and a bone that reached his waist popped up from the ground. Dipper frowned. He was just starting to trust this skeleton.

Dipper and Mabel's hearts appeared in front of their chests again, glowing brightly in the dim area.

The bone that Papyrus summoned made a beeline to them, and the twins managed to dodge the it. Mabel smiled. Papyrus was probably just going easy on them. Dipper had different thoughts.

"H-Hey Papyrus...how about we just take a nice stroll in the town instead? That'll probably be a bit better than fighting!" Mabel tried as she dodged another bone that came her way.

"WHAT!? FL-FLIRTING!? SO YOU FINALLY REVEAL YOUR ULTIMATE FEELINGS! W-WELL! I'M A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS!" Papyrus sniffed and looked away.

"WHAT?" Dipper raged as another bone came at him. He moved to the side but the bone still hit his hand, causing the light in his soul to flicker. "She doesn't want to date you, you jerk!"

"I-I just don't want to fight you, Papyrus. That's all." Mabel said as she watched a really small bone that missed Dipper's line of vision and ended up hitting him in the foot.

"SO YOU WON'T FIGHT..."

"THEN, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE MY FABLED "BLUE ATTACK!"" Papyrus yelled excitedly as he flung his hands in the air. The twins, after going through the blue attack before, mentally prepared themselves to not move at all.

Yet they were not prepared for their souls to turn blue.

They were not prepared for their bodies to turn blue.

And they were definitely not ready for the bone to hit them from the side, causing their souls to flicker and dim.

The twins looked up at the confident skeleton in betrayal.

"YOU'RE BLUE NOW. THAT'S MY ATTACK! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"


	11. 11

"YOU'RE BLUE NOW. THAT'S MY ATTACK! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Dipper glared at the skeleton as he tried to move forward to him, but to no avail, as he felt himself stuck in one place. After a while he realized he could only jump.

Two bones came his way and he jumped, clearing them. He forgot he didn't tell Mabel about the blue heart, and turned around just in time to see his sister get hit. Her soul flickered and dimmed.

"Mabel! You have to jump!" Dipper called. Mabel looked back at him with a determined stare and nodded once. The next two bones came at her first, and she managed to get over them.

"HMMM... I WONDER WHAT I SHOULD WEAR..." Papyrus thought out loud as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Dipper was confused as to what he was talking about.

"WHAT?! I'M NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT DATE THING!" Papyrus gasped.

"Nobody asked!" Dipper snarked. Two pairs of bones, one bone floating and another trudging through the snow as the rest, came at their sides. The twins jumped through the small openings. This went on for a while until Papyrus exclaimed,

" YEAH! DON'T MAKE ME USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Dipper frowned. Wasn't the blue attack his special attack?

"I CAN ALMOST TASTE MY FUTURE POPULARITY! PAPYRUS: HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD! PAPYRUS: UNPARALLELED SPAGETTORE! UNDYNE WILL BE REALLY PROUD OF ME! THE KING WILL TRIM A HEDGE IN THE SHAPE OF MY SMILE! MY BROTHER WILL ..." Papyrus looked down and narrowed his eye sockets.

"WELL, HE WON'T CHANGE VERY MUCH. I'LL HAVE LOTS OF ADMIRERS! BUT...WILL ANYONE LIKE ME AS SINCERELY AS YOU?" Papyrus looked up at Mabel. "SOMEONE LIKE YOU IS REALLY RARE...AND DATING MIGHT BE KIND OF HARD..." Dipper rolled his eyes at the ignorant skeleton.

"AFTER YOU'RE CAPTURED AND SENT AWAY. URGH... WHO CARES! GIVE UP!" Papyrus stomped his foot and pointed at the two dishevelled and snow-covered blue twins. "GIVE UP OR FACE MY... SPECIAL ATTACK!"

Again with this special attack, Dipper thought as he jumped over two more bones and ended it with a somersault.

"YEAH! VERY SOON I WILL USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus assured and sent more bone attacks at the twins. Mabel spotted a variety of blue and white bones coming at her and tried her best to avoid the bones and stay still at the same time, but still got hit. She felt her soul dim and her eyelids lower as her movements became groggier. Soon, she blacked out.

-oooo-

"Ugh...Dipper, where are we?" Mabel groaned as she woke up on hardwood flooring. Her eyes shot open as a response to her question was missing. "Dipper?"

She got up from the ground and scanned her surroundings. She was placed right next to a scratchy dog bed, and on her other side was a squeaky bone chew toy.

Was she?

Did she?

Animorph into a dog?

Mabel looked down at her hands and sighed in relief to know they were still there. She got up from the ground and did a double take at the note taped on the wall.

'SORRY, I HAVE TO LOCK YOU IN THE GUEST BEDROOM UNTIL UNDYNE ARRIVES. FEEL FREE TO MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME! REFRESHMENTS AND ACCOMIDATIONS HAVE BEEN PROVIDED. -NYEHFULLY YOURS, PAPYRUS.'

Mabel snorted and looked at the too wide bars on her left. They resembled the ones back in Snowdin Forest, so it must've been Papyrus who had built it. That was just so...Papyrus.

Mabel walked out of the small room and through a door. She realized that she was in that locked shed beside Sans and Papyrus' house. Mabel saw in the distance the battle that was still going on between Papyrus and ran up.

"Dipper! What happened?" Mabel called and her brother turned around.

"Your soul was dimming and Papyrus teleported you somewhere! Are you ok?" Dipper yelled over the wind.

"Yeah." Mabel sniffed and walked closer. Her soul popped up again, this time already blue. The blue colour from before spread all over her body again, starting from her physical heart and moving to the tips of her fingers, toes, and crown.

"I SUPPOSED THIS PROVES WHAT I SAID. WE REALLY ARE BOUND TOGETHER. TWO BONES IN THE SKELETAL ANATOMY OF FATE!" Mabel took mental notes of these lines and planned to use them later.

"THAT'S HOW YOU APPEAR HERE NOW...EVEN THOUGH IT'S VERY IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO ESCAPE. AMAZING!" Papyrus gushed.

"I FEEL A SINCERE... WAAAAAIT A SECOND! I STILL HAVE TO CAPTURE YOU! WHOOPSIE-DOOPSIE!"

Papyrus sent a flurry of bones in the twins' direction. They managed to dodge them.

"NOT TOO LONG AND I WILL USE THAT SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus warned.

A few bones floating and some in the ground started clashing together and came at the twins. Dipper timed his jump into the reopening gap and Mabel followed.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE. BEFORE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus called and sent another round of bones towards the humans.

After dodging the bones without fail, Papyrus threw one hand up in the air.

He brought his hand down and the twins braced themselves. "BEHOLD...! MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"

...

...

...

"Wow, this attack of yours has to be my favourite," Dipper scoffed as nothing happened.

Suddenly, a small, white dog popped out of a bush with a bone in its mouth.

"WHAT THE HECK! THAT'S MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus screeched as the dog turned to face him. Its eyes started to bulge out of his head as Dipper and Mabel started to snicker.

"HEY! YOU STUPID DOG! DO YOU HEAR ME!? STOP MUNCHING ON THAT BONE!" The dog started hopping, alternating feet and began to flee.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! COME BACK HERE WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Dipper wiped tears from his eyes as the dog ran through their legs and to the direction of Snowdin Town.

"... OH WELL. I'LL JUST USE A REALLY COOL REGULAR ATTACK." Papyrus shrugged as he watched the dog disappear. He repeated the hand motion from before and his regular attack began.

A few small bones that were easy to step over went by their feet, then a flurry of large ones that alternated in levels came at them. The dog from earlier ran around their feet and Mabel got a chance to pet it. A whole set of bones clumped together came from Dipper's side first, and he could see that the bones spelt out the words 'Cool Dude'. Mabel started cracking up as a bone somehow riding a skateboard in the snow rolled past them.

All of a sudden, a huge clump of bones made a beeline for them, looking impossible to clear. Still, the twins tried to jump over them, surprised when they jumped much higher than predicted. Mabel looked over at Papyrus, thinking that he was helping them get over the bones, but he looked as shocked as they were. Mabel looked back at her brother who's grin reached from temple to temple. The twins giggled happily as they cleared the very last bone, the one much taller than the rest. They soon were placed back onto the snowy ground.

"WELL...! 'HUFF' IT'S CLEAR... YOU CAN'T! 'HUFF' DEFEAT ME! YEAH! I CAN SEE YOU SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS!" Truthfully, the twins were shivering over how cold it was. "THEREFORE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO GRANT YOU PITY! I WILL SPARE YOU, HUMAN! NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO ACCEPT MY MERCY."

-oooo-

"NYOO HOO HOO..." Papyrus sobbed. "I CAN'T EVEN STOP SOMEONE WAS WEAK AS YOU..." Mabel walked up to Papyrus and patted him on the back, or...how high she could reach, anyways.

Papyrus glanced at her. "UNDYNE'S GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED IN ME. I'LL NEVER JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD... AND..." Papyrus looked up.

"MY FRIEND QUANTITY WILL REMAIN STAGNANT!" Papyrus burst into tears again.

"Hey. Papyrus, it's ok." Dipper tried to comfort as he walked over to him and Mabel and gave him a hug. "We can be your friends."

Papyrus' face immediately lit up and he sat up straighter. WOWIE! WE HAVEN'T EVEN HAD OUR FIRST DATE... AND I'VE ALREADY MANAGED TO HIT THE FRIEND ZONE! WHO KNEW THAT ALL I NEEDED TO MAKE PALS... WAS TO GIVE PEOPLE AWFUL PUZZLES AND THEN FIGHT THEM?" Dipper's smile immediately formed into a frown when Papyrus mentioned the date thing again.

"YOU TAUGHT ME A LOT, HUMANS." Papyrus smiled and hugged the twins back. He pointed upwards.

"I HEREBY GRANT YOU PERMISSION TO PASS THROUGH! AND I'LL GIVE YOU DIRECTIONS TO THE SURFACE. CONTINUE FORWARD UNTIL YOU REACH THE END OF THE CAVERN.

THEN... WHEN YOU REACH THE CAPITAL, CROSS THE BARRIER." Papyrus explained. "THAT'S THE MAGICAL SEAL TRAPPING US ALL UNDERGROUND." Dipper nodded as he took mental notes about it. He remembered reading about the barrier in one of the books in the library.

"ANYTHING CAN ENTER THROUGH IT, BUT NOTHING CAN EXIT... EXCEPT SOMEONE WITH A POWERFUL SOUL." Papyrus pointed at them both.

"... LIKE YOU! THAT'S WHY THE KING WANTS TO ACQUIRE A HUMAN. HE WANTS TO OPEN THE BARRIER WITH SOUL POWER. THEN US MONSTERS CAN RETURN TO THE SURFACE!" Mabel cheered and clapped.

"OH, I ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL YOU...

TO REACH THE EXIT, YOU WILL HAVE TO PASS...THROUGH THE KING'S CASTLE." Papyrus' voice suddenly went serious.

"THE KING OF ALL MONSTERS...HE IS..." He placed both hands on his hips. "... WELL..."

His voice exploded. "HE'S A BIG FUZZY PUSHOVER! EVERYBODY LOVES THAT GUY. I AM CERTAIN IF YOU JUST SAY... "EXCUSE ME, MR. DREEMURR... CAN I PLEASE GO HOME?"" Papyrus continued in a squeaky voice. "HE'LL GUIDE YOU RIGHT TO THE BARRIER HIMSELF!"

"ANYWAY! THAT'S ENOUGH TALKING!" Papyrus finished. Dipper gave and encouraging smile.

"I'LL BE AT HOME BEING A COOL FRIEND! FEEL FREE TO COME BY AND HAVE THAT DATE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" And with that, Papyrus skipped away with an excited grin on his face. Mabel started following him.

"Mabel! What are you doing?" Dipper grabbed her wrist lightly.

"I'm going on the date," Mabel explained.


	12. 12

"I'm going on the date," Mabel explained.

Dipper stared at her. Did she really...want to go on a date with that kooky skeleton? He bit his lip and rolled his eyes then sighed, a small gust of visible air omitting from his mouth. Well, he did want Mabel to be happy, considering the circumstances they were in.

Go on without her, a voice whispered in the back of his head.

Dipper's eyes furrowed as the voice kept on telling him to leave his sister behind.

"Fine. I'll be up ahead." Dipper sighed. Mabel's expression went down a bit but she smiled anyways.

"OK. I'll...see you later, I guess." Mabel trudged along in the snow away from her brother, slightly sniffing from all the exposure of cold on her bare skin.

Why would Dipper...not come with me? Mabel thought as she walked back to civilization, the fog from earlier subdued. The small feeling of jingling bells and comfort returned as the town became bigger. This town deserves this own Santa. Sans-ta. Mabel giggled to herself.

The first building she walked past, was Papyrus and Sans' house, the coloured fairy lights that decorated the roof brighter than ever as somehow the underground town got darker, to signify it was night-time. Maybe it was the same magic that made sure the trees down here were not just roots.

Papyrus stood in front of the door of the two-story house, checking his wrist every-so-often. When Mabel got closer, she saw that he didn't even have a watch. The tall skeleton looked up from examining his wrist thoroughly as he heard Mabel's footsteps coming closer.

"SO YOU CAME BACK TO HAVE A DATE WITH ME! YOU MUST BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS..." Papyrus looked to the side.

"I'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE SPECIAL. A PLACE I LIKE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME!" Papyrus started walking towards the middle of the town and Mabel tried to keep with his fast pace. She smiled, thinking that they were going to go to that restaurant called 'Grillby's ' she saw earlier, then frowned, perplexed as they went back in the direction they came from: Papyrus and Sans ' house.

"MY HOUSE!"

-oooo-

Dipper grumbled as he walked on, the frost town far behind him.

The new area he had reached was an entirely different atmosphere from the snow-covered town. Water dripped from the long stalactites hanging from the stone ceiling, practically touching the towering stalagmites that met together, some columns were even created. It was cold here as well, but not as chilly as the Snowdin Forest.

It was one huge, damp cave.

Dipper shivered and continued on silently, the weight in his back pack growing heavy. He had moved the toy he had found in the Ruins from his back pocket to his backpack.

The voice from earlier. He felt it niggling at the back of his head back when Toriel spared the twins before. And when Papyrus stood in front of them, using the blue attack and almost costing his sister's life.

Kill kill kill kill kill.

He promised himself he would tell Mabel about what's happening but he could never bring himself to say anything. If he did, he would have to fight with her over it. She would say to put the toy back and not think the thoughts again and ignore the voice.

Dipper sighed. This was too much for him.

If you're stressed, why not take it out on some monsters? The voice whispered. The comedian will never know.

Dipper shook his head and tried to push the thoughts to the back of his mind. If he killed any monsters, Mabel would be miserable.

But what if the monsters attacked her? She would be all defenceless, all the items were with Dipper. She may die on the way to meet him.

He was torn. Protect Mabel, or not break her heart?

Dipper started regretting leaving her behind with Papyrus.

Its okay, Dipper. Without her, nothing can hold you back. I am stronger. You can save her from the evil monsters.

Dipper halted to a stop and clenched his fists.


	13. 13

Dipper halted to a stop and clenched his fists.

"Listen," He spoke out loud, hoping the voice was able to hear him. "I don't know who you are, I don't care who you are, but all I'm asking from you is to leave me alone!" Dipper glared at his feet. "Please. Don't even try to speak to me cause I'm not going to listen."

"But-"

"Sh! Shush!"Dipper cried. "I don't want to...to..." He trailed off as he heard talking in the distance. He followed the chatter until he reached a small room at the end of the hall.

Some monsters were hanging around, having their own conversations. A familiar skeleton stood-no-slept in a small sentry station similar to the ones back in Snowdin.

"Sans!" Dipper called.

Noooo! The voice hissed.

The big boned skeleton somehow opened his physically-impossible closed eye sockets and sat up from leaning in the sentry station counter.

"oh, hey, kid." Sans muttered as Dipper approached. "Sans, what are you doing here?"

"what? haven't you seen a guy with two jobs before?" Sans chuckled. "fortunately, two jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks."

"Ha." Dipper deadpanned.

"actually, I'm heading to grillby's. wanna come?" Sans offered as he leaned his head in one hand.

"Yeah, why not." Dipper sighed. He might as well distract himself from thinking about his twin. Plus, he hadn't even gotten to see the restaurant, anyway.

"well…if you insist. i'll pry myself away from work." Sans sighed and looked to the side. Dipper looked offended. It was SANS who forced HIMSELF to get out of work, and he was blaming it on DIPPER. He couldn't believe the big-boned skeleton.

Sans walked out of the sentry station and to Dipper's right, the opposite direction to where Grillby's was. Dipper raised an uncertain brow.

"over here, i know a shortcut."

Dipper didn't question how they somehow got from the cave-area to the restaurant in Snowdin that fast, but they did. Sans walked up to the counter where a-

"HE'S ON FIRE! THAT MAN IS ON FIRE OH GOD SOMEBody get…some…" Dipper looked down sheepishly as the whole restaurant went silent. "…water…ehe…" He then ran up to where Sans sat on one of the stools and seated himself, his sweater covering his head.

…

...

The restaurant continued in conversation after a while. Dipper found it strange that there was no music playing in the background as there usually would. He then saw the smashed jukebox and then put the pieces together- Oh. someone must've played 'What's New Pussycat' twenty times.

Surprisingly, all the dogs that he and Mabel had encountered in the forest were all here, including that weird Doggo. Lesser dog and Greater dog, and the couple dogs, Dogamy and Dogaressa. There were also some personalities Dipper had not met yet, such as the two (drunk?) birds sitting next to him and Sans.

"Hey, Sans. Weren't you just here for breakfast a few minuets ago?" One of them spoke, they reminded Dipper of an overcooked chicken.

"nah, I haven't had breakfast in at least half an hour." Dipper frowned. Wasn't it, like, noon? "you must be thinking of brunch."

The whole room broke down in laughter.

"anyway. lets order." Sans nodded his head up to a menu placed on the wall. "what'dya want?"

Dipper frowned. "Why are the only things on the menu burger or fries?"

My thoughts exactly, the voice whined. I mean, they could at least have the decency to add some chocola-

"Go away!" Dipper exclaimed, then realized what he said was louder than he expected as another hush of silence fell over the room.

…

...

Embarrassment joined the party with sweat and red on Dipper's face as he willed the room to stop staring at him. The talking in the room was soon recovered and Dipper sighed. "I'll-I'll have the fries, please." He asked the flaming bartender. He nodded and walked through a door behind the counter.

"so," Sans started. "what do you think…of my brother?"

Dipper frowned. Well, he's a lunatic for one, wanting to capture humans and possibly kill them…but Dipper just gave Sans the answer he was looking for.

"He's cool, I guess." Dipper shrugged and Sans turned back to face foreward, looking satisfied with the answer he got.

"of course he's cool," Sans said. "you'd be cool like that if you wore that outfit every day."

"he'd only take that thing off if he absolutely needed to. ah, well, at least he washes it." Sans looked to the side. "and by wash it…I mean, he takes showers in it."

Dipper furrowed his brows. Well, he shouldn't be the one to judge anyway, during the summer he hardly ever changed his clothes or took showers. He was so busy concentrating on the mysteries of Gravity Falls to even have proper hygiene.

Ew, the voice whispered.

Grillby walked into the diner again, holding a tray with two servings of steamy fries. "here comes the grub," Sans stated as the hotman placed the tray in front of the two.

"want some ketchup?" Sans offered as he held the bottle up. Dipper nodded and Sans gave him the bottle. He opened the cap and started squirting the sauce out, but suddenly the whole cap fell off and the fries were drowning in ketchup.

"whoops," Sans said.

REVENGE! The voice screeched.

"Ah, fughettaboutit, you can have mine." Sans slid the plate of his fries over to Dipper and grabbed the other plate.

"anyway, cool or not, you have to admit papyrus tries real hard," Sans continued the former conversation, and this was a statement Dipper could agree with. "like how he wants to be part of the royal guard. one day, he went to the house of the royal guard, and begged her to let him be in it." Sans looked over at Dipper. "of course, she shut the door on him because it was midnight, but when she woke up the next day she saw him still waiting there."

Dipper nodded. If Mabel was here, she would tell him that that was something he would do.

"seeing his dedication," Sans went on, "she decided to give him warrior training. it's, uh, work in progress."

…

…

"oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something." Sans voice suddenly went deeper, and Dipper felt the world around him stop, as if him and Sans were the only ones in the room.

"one night, a little, yellow thing appeared in papyrus' and I's living room. it asked us for a favor, saying if we made a deal," Dipper stiffened. "it would help him gain control of a certain power source around here. now, I'm not going to tell you what that source is, but do you have any idea who I'm talking about?"


End file.
